Port Authority’s crane reportedly broken, leaving cargo ship unable to offload most of its supermarket goods

Supermarket and grocery store customers might be inconvenienced
on the weekend if certain imported goods are not landed, since the
cargo ship carrying them may be forced to return to its port of
origin.

Sources tell REAL News that Tropic Carib, a general cargo ship (IMO
9225263) that routinely docks at the St. John’s Port/Deep Water
Harbour on Mondays, is facing an unusual challenge, because the
Antigua Port Authority’s Liebherr crane is out of service.

Because of how the vessel was loaded in Florida, the sources claim,
only a few containers for the Seabord shipping agents were able to
be offloaded – by using the vessel’s onboard crane.

However, they allege that most of the shipping containers consigned
to Tropical Shipping are stuck onboard, as that crane is unable to
reach them.

This embarrassing development has caused costly delays – not only
for the consignees awaiting the clearance of their goods, but also to
the shipping line, the sources claim.

The embarrassment is made worse, they add, as all this has
happened in the absence of General Manager Darwin Telemaque.
Reportedly, he is overseas on what insiders allege are his now-
routine business trips that take him away twice a month.

Further, the sources tell REAL News, the challenges with the Port’s
crane and its stacker machine are recurring issues, and they
complain that no serious resources are being expended to remedy
the problems.

In contrast, the Port Authority reportedly forks out $30,000 every
week for the Thursday delivery of 10,000 gallons of fuel for the
legally entangled Motor Yacht Alfa Nero.

REAL News will continue to follow this developing story.